Baseball Federation of Malaysia (BFM) and Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) announce the appointment of Takeshi Sato (72) as a coach for the Malaysian National Baseball Team which will participate in the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia in the middle of November.

Coach Sato was a player of the University of Tokyo Baseball Club where he was selected as one of the best nine players of the prestigious Tokyo Big-6 League in 1961. During his tenure in Toray Industries, Inc., a leading international chemical industry group, he was stationed in Penang, Malaysia for 3.5 years to set up the currently thriving manufacturing complex. Coach Sato will continue to assist BFM’s ongoing initiatives to develop baseball in Malaysia after the completion of the SEA Games.

Both BFM and BFJ are members of Baseball Federation of Asia, as well as International Baseball Federation.

PETALING JAYA : The Malaysian baseball squad – long known as the whipping boys in the SEA Games – have set themselves a high standard, targeting at least a bronze medal in the Games, which will begin in Palembang next month.

This will be the third time that baseball will be featured in the SEA Games. The first was back in 2005 in Manila, followed by Korat in 2007.

And both times Malaysia fared poorly – finishing last in 2005 and fifth in 2007.

But this time, Baseball Federation of Malaysia (BFM) secretary general Nahar Johari believes they have a “ highly committed” bunch of players in the squad and that a bronze medal is an “ achievable target ” .

Malaysia will also be boosted by news that regional powerhouse the Philippines have pulled out from the Games.

“ Back in Manila and Korat, the national team only trained on an ad-hoc basis and they only competed for exposure, ” said Nahar.

“ This time, however, we have a proper training system and half of the players have been in the team since 2009.

“ There is a great team spirit among the players and the fact that Philippines are not participating has also given us much hope. ”

With the Filipinos’ exclusion, hosts Indonesia look a safe bet for the gold medal, leaving Malaysia to compete with Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for the other spot in the final.

The squad will be undergoing intensive training, which began at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) on Saturday, until Nov 10.

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